News Reel
by Ashynarr
Summary: Separate interviews of the North American twins lead some people to notice an interesting parallel between the two... Oneshot


News Reel (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: Separate interviews of the North American twins lead some people to notice an interesting parallel between the two...

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: None really

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"...and in other news, we recently managed to get interviews with two of the newly revealed 'Nations', Alfred Jones and Matthew Williams, otherwise known as America and Canada. The whole interviews will be on air later tonight, but our editors happened to notice an interesting coincidence early on, and we felt it might just peak your interest."

Reporter: … So what do you see as your brother's best trait?

Alfred: His best trait? ...Well, I've always been sorta jealous of how easily he can get people to like him.

Reporter: Jealous?

Alfred: [laughs] Yeah, sounds weird, right? Me, jealous of Canada of all people? But really, can you name a single person who hates Canada at all?

Reporter: What about Quebec? Doesn't Canada usually have trouble from them?

Alfred: Quebec doesn't hate him, trust me. Frustrated, yeah, but he cares about Matt- er, Canada, just as much as the rest of us.

Reporter: What about his likeability, as you put it, makes you jealous?

Alfred: Well, I don't have to tell you about the whole 'anti-American' sentiment going around for a while, right? Seems like everyone everyone in the world hates us, including ourselves. And I'll be honest, it was pretty bad for me for a while.

Reporter: Oh?

Alfred: I represent the people, literally. And if the people hate me...

Reporter: ...I can see how that'd be hard to deal with.

Alfred: Yeah, pretty much, but it's getting better now.

Reporter: That's good to hear. Getting back on track-

Alfred: Right, my brother. Well, like I said, it seems like everyone loves him and hates me these days. And really, it's pretty much always been that way, even when I was just a colony. Sure, he used to cause trouble for France and England, same as me, but he almost never got in trouble even if he was the one who started it. They always assumed it was me or else I'd egged him into it.

Reporter: Did you?

Alfred: Sometimes, but usually he was more than happy to go along with whatever dumb plans we came up with. I'm pretty sure the first time he actually put his foot down on something stupid was my Revolution. [laugh]

Reporter: …did you just call the Revolution stupid?

Alfred: Well obviously not now, but back then? Think about it – tiny, untrained militia against the greatest military in the world at that time period. Nothing about that particularly screamed brilliance, and sometimes I'm still surprised I managed to luck out enough to get help from France and then actually go on to win.

Reporter: Well, it's lucky for us you did, right?

Alfred: [snort] You wouldn't think so from hearing the others. Even when I had just won they were making bet as to how long my 'silly little experiment in democracy' would last. Still making bets on it, in fact. Pretty sure the pot is up to a couple hundred thousand at this point, and I think the majority is at around four decades from now.

Reporter: That high?

Alfred: Inflation does that.

Reporter: Why do you think the other countries dislike you?

Alfred: What's not to dislike? I'm loud, brash, annoying, arrogant, stupid, I never think things through, I spend too much time daydreaming and not enough working on the issues around me, I interfere where I shouldn't, don't interfere where I should, my debt is so high I'll be lucky if I can ever pay it off, I screw up everything I get involved in, and my favorite, why aren't you more like your brother? Now that's a Nation worth being proud of!

Reporter: Surely it's not that bad!

Alfred: Last year the Natherlands sent acres worth of tulips to Canada for the help they provided in World War Two. When was the last time anyone sent us a gift for helping them?

Reporter: Do you resent your brother at all?

Alfred: What? No! I wouldn't ever want him to have to deal with what I have to. I'm actually sorta glad one of us managed to not get looked down on by Europe and Asia.

Reporter: You care about him a lot, don't you?

Alfred: More than anyone, really. He's my brother and my best friend in the world.

"...and that was just the interview with America. Pay attention to this next clip from the interview with Canada, when asked the same question, and see if you notice what our editors did."

Matthew: His best trait... I'd have to say his enthusiasm.

Reporter: Why would you say that?

Matthew: Well, he's just got this... air around him when he's interested in something, and sometimes he'll just tinker with it for a bit before moving on, but when he really focuses... well, let's just say there's a reason he's the land of innovation.

Reporter: Don't most nations have at least a few major inventions to their name, though?

Matthew: Yeah, but most of those were in the past. Think about most of the things people use today – cellphones, the internet, cars, planes, microchips, and so on. All of those were invented in America, and have had a major impact on modern society. No matter where you go in the world, you'll probably see an American invention being used there by someone.

Reporter: Does it ever intimidate you having such an influential neighbor?

Matthew: Sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I trust my brother a lot, and I know he wouldn't pull anything, but it's just so easy to imagine getting overwhelmed by his people and culture without him even realizing it.

Reporter: Overwhelmed?

Matthew: How much do you know about Canadian history?

Reporter: Not much, I'm afraid...

Matthew: We fought for England in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and in both World Wars, but most classroom history books outside of my country never mention that. We also invented walkie-talkies, velcro, sonar, insulin, the electron microscope, garbage bags, and more, but most of them were credited to Americans.

Reporter: Seriously?

Matthew: Unfortunately, yes. Alf- America's always been the more noticeable of us. When he talks, people pay attention to him. Most of the time I feel like the other countries don't even see me unless they're actually looking for me about something.

Reporter: Do you ever resent your brother for that?

Matthew: Of course not! It's not his fault, he's just...

Reporter: ...just?

Matthew: ...he's always been... different. More driven. Sometimes he's not sure what he wants to do with himself and it shows in his people, but when he's determined to do something...

Reporter: Like declare independence?

Matthew: [chuckles] Manifest destiny, manned flight, Apollo... he's always been happiest when he's pushing himself into the unknown. You should have seen him when Armstrong stepped onto the moon – I've never seen him as lit up as he was then... he was crushed when the funding for the space missions started getting cut in favor of other things.

Reporter: Aren't most nations driven by something, though?

Matthew: By history, self-interest, politics, yes. And Alfr- America's driven by those, too, but... he also looks past himself to the future. He genuinely wants to help everyone, even if he doesn't always go about it the right way, he's always sharing all his new inventions and talking about his big plans for the future, and I... well, that's what I really admire about him.

Reporter: Admire?

Matthew: [short laugh] Yeah, I know, it seems silly, but... most of us admire him, really. It's hard for us to stay positive all of the time with what we've been through, but somehow America manages it. And sometimes it's hard not to get caught up in his visions for the future... when he's really into his speech, well... that's when I really believe he'll go to the stars someday.

Reporter: You really believe in him that much?

Matthew: Of course, he's my brother. And really... I've always thought he was born to do something incredible.

"...that's all the time we have for our show today. Remember to stay tuned for the full interviews later tonight, and we'll see you again tomorrow for more on the Nations."

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AN: ...I don't know, it just popped into my head. It came out differently than I originally imagined, but hopefully it's still good?

But yeah I just sort of was wondering what Al and Matt would admire in each other and what they would see as flaws in themselves and realized they were the same thing and... well, I think it's sort of the issue all of us have. Not that it's a statement I mean to make, but usually something we see as a flaw in ourselves is something that a lot of other people admire.

...I'd like to think they watched this in their own houses and the next time they met was awkward fluff comfort.


End file.
